Things I Don’t Miss About Mary Kay Directorship

Our friends. I have made/re-ignited real friendships in the real world, once I didn’t have to worry about hanging out only with “positive” people and trying to recruit every new person I met.

Make-up stashes. Mine consisted of the limited edition crap I couldn’t sell to my customers. Now I have I want without all the junk I couldn’t find in my conscience to throw away.

Customers. Almost all of my customers that I care about are so happy for me in my new life, and we make plans for lunches together, we e-mail each other, etc. On the other hand, I get to say SO LONG to the deadbeats and the ones who return seven shades of foundation before they decide that Mary Kay just isn’t for them.

Cars. Two words: car copays.

Unit, unit names, unit pins, flags/signs we used at career conference to find our unit members. Four words: pain in the a$$. I loved my women, but I hated trying to motivate them every week (here’s a free tip: you can’t motivate anyone to do anything). I hated trying to think of new ways to build “unit-y” when I just didn’t care that much myself anymore.

Director meetings. Two hours of comparing myself to other women, hiding my problems in order not to appear negative, feeling superior when I was recognized for a unit accomplishment and feeling like an insect when I had a bad month, listening to the latest flash in the pan gush on and on about how she was on-target for Cadillac (and wondering where she was six months later), hearing about yet ANOTHER sure-fire guest night/recruiting script/consistency club, etc. that wouldn’t work. Gee, why wouldn’t I miss that?

Endless phone calls, emails, etc. And endless family interruptions and consultants who think you are a therapist.

Production tracking. Months of staring at numbers that will never add up, no matter how hard you work.

Our meeting agendas, interviews, inventory talks, debuts. GAAAKKK!11 years of trying to make a unit meeting fresh, trying to convince a warm body that MK is just PERFECT for her, rationalizing why the only real option for a new consultant is a “full store,” taking a whole Sunday afternoon to do a debut for 4 people instead of watching a football game with my husband . . . now that I’m out, I can’t believe I did all that for so long.

Christmas gifts from the company. Directors, you know what I’m talking about.

Director suits. Remember the smurf suit?

Early ordering/support packages/etc. Whatever. The more the product line deteriorates, the less I have any desire to see it at all, much less early.

Yes, it’s all gone, and I’m not depressed, I’m elated! What directors really miss is a sense of being special and superior to others. But if they can ever see what it really costs them, they come to realize they have been played by the company, and the only ones coming out on top are the owners of Mary Kay Inc, Richard Rogers and other members of Mary Kay Ash’s family.

“Director meetings. Two hours of comparing myself to other women, hiding my problems in order not to appear negative, feeling superior when I was recognized for a unit accomplishment and feeling like an insect when I had a bad month.”

^^ that sums up the life of a director. I hated director meetings. I hated having to get out of the house by 8am…. dressed to the nines- drop off my preschool kids to a baby sitter and get into rush hour traffic to be with a bunch of women that to someone on the outside looked nice and welcoming- but when you look closely… it was nothing but a bunch of overly made up women who were constantly comparing themselves to others.. and a bit on the catty side. It wasn’t productive or inspiring. The same old things were ‘taught’ and usually from the same people. If you were a lowly director… you were pretty much ignored by everyone (except for those other bottom dwellers… we were all trying to figure out how to get out of that level). When I decided to quit going- at first I got calls from the other bottom dwellers… but then they were pretty much told to stop that by their Sr.’s and NSD – I was labeled negative. It was a relief to not be bothered any longer.

Reading this article this morning brings back many negative feelings I have still about my time in Mary Kay… and I wish I could say that I’m completely over it all… but lurking somewhere in my mind- it has reared it’s ugly head once again. I’m hopeful that someday I’ll be able to completely rid myself of these thoughts – I guess it’s a work in progress.

Thank you to all of the amazing women (and some men) who support each other here at PT. I appreciate you all. 🙂

Director meetings! And working so hard to get no farther. Triple or Double Courts and still no offspring, Cadillac, or new title. I miss none of the self-doubt, chasing a solution for why I wasn’t moving like the few others, the fake attitudes, the fake friendships, the abuse of God and scripture by people who really aren’t living right. I don’t miss my feet hurting after hours in heels, the scratchy Director suits, and the constant feeling of needing to convince another person to book, another to buy, another to sign, another to not quit.

My mind is happier, my bank account is thriving, and my heart is no longer craving what it used to. And no more self-help books!